


Black Magic / Muke (5 Seconds of Summer)

by ObsessedWithBands



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5 Seconds of Summer - Freeform, 5SOS - Freeform, Cute, F/M, Fiction, Fluff, Humor, I love this ship, M/M, Magic AU, Major Original Characters - Freeform, Muke - Freeform, Original setting, Plot Twists, THIS IS SO CUTE, Teen Pregnancy, but anyway, calum is older than the other boys, i love, michael ashton and luke are the same age, minor original characters, muahaha, occasional smut, references, uh oh, why don't we - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-02 22:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16314197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsessedWithBands/pseuds/ObsessedWithBands
Summary: As an apprentice in a magic academy, Michael was assigned by one of his professors to make a potion of his choice.As a student in a new school, Luke is trying to find his way through a new life.Both of them weren't expecting to meet each other, neither did they expect to find love that had such unexpected consequences.





	1. Only The Beginning

Michael stirred his potion’s base lazily, watching bubbles rise to the top. As his Potions professor instructed, he was supposed to complete a potion by tomorrow, but he wasn’t able to think of anything.

He picked up his phone which was beside his cauldron, searching up which potions he could start with his base.

“I remember the potion years…” his brother, Calum, reminisced. Calum was two years older than in him, in Year 12.

“What did you do for the potion project?” Michael asked. Calum shrugged.

“I honestly forgot, but I remember mine was so memorable, all the girls noticed me the day I presented.” Calum said, smirking.

“And that’s how you met Syrah?” Michael said. Calum nodded.

“And even now, after two years, we’re still so in love…” Calum’s voice trailed off. Little did he know, Michael got the perfect idea for a potion because of his words.

Mixing in rose petals and a few more magical ingredients to complete the potion, Michael smiled at his concoction. Sure, it wasn’t original, but it was something.

The next day, during his Potions class, Michael walked up and held his cauldron proudly.

“Which potion did you choose to make, Michael?” Sir Avery, his professor, asked him.  
“I chose to make a love potion. A classic, yet memorable, love potion.” Michael replied. All his classmates oohed and aahed, marveling at his choice. All of them who have gone before him either did original ones or other classics, but surprisingly, no one had done a love potion.

“And what made you choose that?”

“Well, Sir Avery, my brother Calum was talking about how much he loved his girlfriend Syrah and...it just felt like a good potion to make.” Michael said.

“Simple reason...but that’s good. Thank you for presenting, Michael. Next person up, please?” Sir Avery finished as Michael sat back down with his cauldron.

Little did his professor know, he didn’t just make the potion because Calum was talking about his relationship. He made the potion because the conversation made him think about how he didn’t have anyone who loved him as much as Calum loved Syrah.

“Hey, you better not use that on me,” Ashton, Michael’s desk neighbor, joked. They had been friends since Year 3, and they both joked often.

“You better not use your Canine potion on me, or else I’ll literally bite you,” Michael laughed quietly, gesturing to Ashton’s cauldron. Ashton smiled at his friend before returning his attention to the girl presenting up front, who was his crush.

“I produced a powerful Feline potion that was easily counteracted by my extra potion I made, an Elimination potion that changed my pet frog back into its regular form.” Lanea, the apprentice, smiled proudly at her audience.

Sir Avery shared the proud smile as he watched her finish her presentation, calling up the next person with a huge smile on his face.

Michael’s short attention span caused him to look out the window into the other building, which was another section of their campus.

He always found himself looking at the empty desk, which sat by the other window across from Michael. This time, someone was sitting there.

“Hey, Ash…” Michael said, nudging his friends shoulder. Ashton hummed, still glancing at Lanea from his seat. Ashton turned towards him, and Michael pointed at the person sitting in the empty seat.

“Oh, that’s weird. I guess Luke chose that seat.” Ashton said calmly. Michael looked at his friend.

“Who’s Luke?” he asked. Ashton shrugged.

“He’s a new apprentice who transferred from the South-Eastern Division, I met him this morning because I was told to give him a tour around the academy.” He explained. Michael nodded, then looked back at the new apprentice.

Luke was most likely in another Potions class with a different professor too, seeing how he was stirring a cauldron.

“What house is he in?” Michael asked. Ashton thought for a second, then answered.

“He told me he was placed into the House of the Twins, but I think he would have been more fit for the House of the Quad. He’s better at art than technology stuff.” Ashton said.

[A/N: In the Magic Academy of Aster, each incoming apprentice is placed into one of these Four Houses: the House of the Only, the House of the Twins, the House of the Triples, and the House of the Quad. The apprentice is judged based on their independence, technological use, method of thinking, and creativity. Also, the academy’s year placements are like our grades. For example, Year 5 is 5th grade. All the professors are either called Sir or Mistress, too. Oop, before I forget, their country is divided into six pieces, with the regular cardinal points determining the name of the division.]

“I’m just lucky I was placed into the House of the Quad, ‘cause like you said, I’m hella creative.” Michael boasted, flipping his imaginary long hair over his shoulder. Ashton giggled. He himself was in the House of the Triples, since he always thought of really smart methods.

“After class, since it’s lunch, I’ll look for Luke and bring him to our table.” Ashton said. Michael nodded, looking over at the new apprentice one more time before he focused in class once again.

When Sir Avery released his apprentices, Michael split up with Ashton to sit down at their regular table in the Leisure room.

The Leisure room of the campus was Michael’s favorite. There were all-you-can-eat choices, comfy chairs and delicate tables that hovered a few inches above the ground. Ever since Michael was in Year 8, he’d always anticipated the time when he could finally be enrolled into Aster.

On his first day, he remembered meeting Ashton and immediately becoming friends. Calum always told him that it was easy to find friends at the academy, even though people were in different Houses.

Michael passed a lot of familiar faces as he walked through the halls to the Leisure room, then found the table him, Ashton, Calum, Syrah, and a few other friends always ate at.

By the time he got there, Calum and Syrah were already digging into their food. Calum smiled to greet his younger brother before scooping up a bite of rice.

“Where’s Ash?” Calum asked after he swallowed.

“He’s getting someone he met this morning to sit with us...a new apprentice named Luke. He was placed into your House, the House of the Twins.” Michael explained, sitting down on a chair and placing his hand above the empty plate in front of him.

He envisioned a bowl of mac n cheese with bacon sprinkled on top, and when he opened his eyes, there it was.

“You craving mac n cheese again?” Syrah smiled, watching as Michael immediately began to shovel spoonfuls into his mouth. He couldn’t reply...he was too hungry.

A few minutes later, Ashton’s voice startled him.

“Hey, guys, I’d like you to meet Luke.” Ashton said, gesturing to the blonde boy behind him.

“Hi…” Luke said. Michael turned around with a mouth full of bacon mac n cheese, dropping his jaw and then catching himself.

“Erm, hi,” Michael murmured, wiping his mouth quickly with a napkin.

Luke. Was. So. Stunning.

“Hey, bro, how you doing in MAA so far?” Calum said, moving his chair to the side so Luke could pull one up for himself. Luke pulled a chair up between Michael and Calum, staring at the empty plate in front of him.

“Well...I really like Potions class, seeing how that’s the only class I had this morning,” Luke said, staring at his plate.

“D-do you know how to operate that?” Michael stammered, feeling nervous for some reason.

“Um...no?” Luke laughed.

His. Laugh. Is. Amazing.

Michael found himself sighing at the new apprentice, then snapped out of it when he realized Luke was waiting for him to say something.

“Oh, um, you have to, like, hover your hand above it, then think of what you want to eat.” Michael explained. Luke nodded, then followed his instructions.

Much to Michael’s surprise, bacon mac n cheese appeared in front of Luke.

“Seeing the bowl in front of you made me even more hungry, so that’s all I could think of,” Luke laughed again.

Michael blushed, liking how Luke laughed a lot.

“What’s your next class?” Michael asked, his speech much faster now that he was less hungry and more comfortable in Luke’s presence.

“Oh, I have Remedies.”

“Me too!...I’ll save you a seat.”

“Great.” Luke flashed Michael a smile before continuing to eat his mac n cheese.

When lunch time concluded, Michael led Luke to their class together, smiling to himself as they walked in.

Mistress Arina, the class professor, introduced Luke to the class before he got the chance to sit down.

“Class, this is Luke Hemmings, a new apprentice! He is in the House of Twins, so if anyone here is in that House, here’s someone you could help...if, of course, he needs it.” Mistress Arina said, patting him on the shoulder.

Luke received stares as he sat down on the empty seat beside Michael, and he blushed.

“Okay, so today’s lesson will be about the influential art of healing--emotionally.” Mistress Arina spoke.

Michael drifted off halfway through the lesson, and he found himself looking over at Luke...but this time, lucky for him he could see him up close.

Michael smiled as he watched him out of the corner of his eye, seeing how invested he was in his work. Michael was supposed to be doing work right now too, to write about ‘the oh so wondrous art’, but all he could think about was Luke.

The blonde himself was hunched over his notes, scribbling furiously. Every so often he would pause, look over the text, then write some more unknown words onto paper.

After a few minutes, though, Luke noticed Michael watching him. He straightened up, turning towards Michael.

“Do I...do I have a booger?” Luke asked. Michael raised his eyebrows, confused.

“Huh?”

“Is a hair out of place?”

“W-what?”

“If not...why do you keep looking at me?” Luke asked. The smile on his face consoled Michael and took away the thought of Luke possibly getting mad.

“Oh, s-sorry, I was just looking at a bird, I saw it in the window.” Michael rushed. Luke looked to his left, and to Michael’s luck, a blackbird was indeed sitting on a branch of a tree outside the window.

“Okay…” Luke said, smiling as he returned to working. Michael let out a sigh of relief, placing his chin in his hands.

The rest of the class passed by faster than Michael was used to, and by the time him and Luke were packing up their stuff and then walking to their lockers, Michael was excited to go home.

“Hey, Mike,” Luke said, getting his attention. Michael went to the side of the hallway and leaned against someone else’s locker to talk to Luke.

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking...since I don’t really know a lot about this academy, and I might need help with homework and stuff...could I hang out at your house tonight? Um, just so I could have time to talk to you about all this.” Luke proposed, gesturing around him.

“Oh, really? Of course! I mean, I mean, yeah, sure, I guess.” Michael said, combing his fingers through his hair nervously. Luke smiled his cute smile at him, making Michael’s heart flutter.

“Could I have your phone number?” Luke asked. Michael nodded, blushing lightly. He took out his phone and checked his number, then recited it for Luke to enter it into contacts.

“Thanks...just text me your address and I’ll see you after classes at around 3 or 4.” Luke said, waving goodbye to Michael as he left to go to his next class.

Michael nodded, waving in return. He was so jealous of Luke’s confidence, because if Luke didn’t ask for his phone number, it would have taken Michael a few weeks just to have the courage to ask for his.

After classes were done, Michael met up with Calum like always in front of the campus to drive home in Calum’s car.

This time was one of many where Syrah came home with them to do homework with Cal.

“...What’d you think of the new apprentice?” Michael asked the couple from the backseat. Calum shrugged.

“He seems nice...it also seems like you two could hit it off.” He answered. Michael raised his eyebrows.

“Wait, what? Hit it off?”

“Yeah, it seems like you guys would be great friends.”

“Oh, ha ha, I just thought--you know what, never mind.” Michael stammered.

Syrah hummed, agreeing with her boyfriend’s comment.

“He must have been really educated on technology if he was placed into the House of Twins,” she added. Michael nodded.

“Well, according to Ash, Luke is better at art then technology, but then again, he told me he’s still good at technology even though he likes something else.” Michael explained.

Silence followed.

Calum pulled into his and Michael’s driveway, getting out of the car and walking around to Syrah’s side to open the door for her.

“Oh yeah, and he’s going to hang out with me here later, just so you know. I’ll tell Mom and Dad when we get inside.” Michael told his older brother. Calum nodded, a smile growing on his face. Calum casually hooked an arm around Syrah’s shoulders as they walked through the garage door to the living room.

“How was school today, my babies?” Michael and Calum’s mom called to them from the kitchen. Syrah proceeded into the house to sit on the couch.

“Today Michael presented his love potion in class, so I guess that’s a highlight for him.” Calum spoke, walking into the kitchen part of the house to give his mom a hug.

“Yeah, the presentation went well although the girls might have just been interested in it because they’d like to use it on somebody,” Michael laughed, placing his cauldron on the counter with the rest of his family’s.

[A/N: For a little more info, the apprentices of MAA are required to own cauldrons and bring them to school on scheduled concoction days. A cauldron is required to be bought in Year 9, because during Year 9-12, apprentices are expected to make potions throughout those years.]

“There’s also a new apprentice I met, who was placed into the House of the Twins.” Michael explained. His mom nodded. Michael and Calum’s dad walked down the stairs and smiled at his sons, bowing his head politely towards Syrah.

“What’s his name?” Michael’s mom asked.

“Luke Hemmings.”

“He thinks well of it, from what I know.” Michael sighed, combing his fingers through his dirty blonde locks.

“I invited Luke over to hang out and do work, that’s okay, right?” Michael laughed nervously, knowing it was quite on short notice. His dad nodded, then shook his head and smiled at his son’s anxiousness.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Calum mumbled to Syrah, reaching out a hand to her. She took it, smiling to herself and following him up the stairs, out of sight. Michael sighed again, checking the time on his phone.

“What time is Luke coming over?” his dad asked.

“He said he’ll come around 4.”

It was 3:54, and Michael was feeling jittery. He thought of changing into some nicer clothes, but would Luke think weirdly about him for doing a clothes change just to hang out?

Sadly, Michael wasn’t able to make his decision before the doorbell rang.

“That’s him,” Michael muttered, walking over to the front door. His mom and dad peered at the entrance as he opened it.

“Hey, Mike,” Luke said with a bright smile on his face. Michael’s mood immediately lifted even more than it already was.

“Hi, come in.” Michael replied. Luke considerately took off his shoes by the door and placed them close to the threshold. He looked up and immediately straightened, noticing Michael’s parents staring at him.

“My name’s Luke Hemmings,” he introduced himself. Michael’s mom beamed.

“We know, honey...it’s nice to meet you.” she said. Michael mentally facepalmed himself. She didn’t have to say ‘we know’.

“Tell your parents you’re staying for dinner, I just finished whipping up my famous homemade enchiladas.” Michael’s dad spoke with a smile on his face.

“Oh, okay, thank you,” Luke replied, tucking his hands into his pockets. Michael let out a nervous laugh.

“We’re gonna go work on stuff now,” he said, patting Luke’s shoulder and then gesturing for him to follow him up the stairs. Michael’s mom and dad looked on as their son and the new apprentice disappeared from view onto the second level.

Michael let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he walked past his brother’s closed door, then pushed open his own.

“Wow…” Luke breathed. Michael scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he walked into his bedroom. Luke followed, his eyes wide.

Michael’s definition of a cool bedroom was unlike any other. He desired his bedroom to be divided into four parts, with duct tape marking the division on the hardwood floor. 

In the section closest to the door, Michael kept all his things for the academy including his pet iguana, Daniel. In the next section, Michael kept his Nintendo Switch game system along with two tie-dye beanbags.

In the third section, Michael’s bed was pushed into the corner with a small Eevee plush sitting on top of it.

“Yeah...I really love being organized,” Michael blushed. Luke grinned, eyeing Michael’s game system.

“Do you play Fortnite?” Luke exclaimed, a laugh bubbling out of his throat. Michael laughed with him, his spirits raised.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” Michael said, flipping his imaginary hair again. Luke laughed. Michael powered up his switch excitedly, handing the blue control part to Luke. They played the popular game for an hour, laughing occasionally and sharing stories about past battles.

“This is so fun,” Luke said, leaning back on the beanbag he was sitting on and putting his hands behind his head. Michael nodded beside him.

“Your room is...so amazing. I’m so fucking jealous,” Luke added. Michael nodded again, muttering a thank you.

“What does Calum do after you guys get home?” Luke asked.

“Well, seeing how he’s with Syrah in his bedroom, they’re either actually doing work, or making out.” Michael reasoned. Luke raised his eyebrows, a smirk on his face.

“Do you think--do you think they’ve ever had sex before?” he wondered. Michael smiled.

“They’ve hung out here together so many times, I wouldn’t be surprised if the topic came up between them. But I know for sure they hadn’t because Calum hasn’t told me. He tells me everything, so he’d tell me if it happened.” Michael explained.

“Ah. That’s reasonable…” Luke commented.

They chilled in silence for a few moments before resorting to working on assignments in Michael’s bookshelf section. Michael didn’t really have work to do, though, so he decided to help Luke with his Astronomy work.

“Do you have Astronomy?” Luke asked. Michael shook his head.

“I just have Potions, Remedies, History of the Magic, Revolution, Passion, and Alignments. But I do know a little bit of Astronomy from some classmates.”

“I have all those classes except Alignments...what’s that about?”

“Basically it’s a class about different things that just...fit in order, if you know what I mean. For example, theories and pieces of things like actions made in the past create our world now.” Michael explained. Luke hummed.

Michael proceeded to help Luke find strategies to locate different stars and study how stars are created and found for another hour, then read a manga while Luke finished up. Michael heard his mom call upstairs that dinner was ready, and he stood up and walked to the wall.

Hitting it with his fists twice so he would be heard in Calum’s room, which was right next to his, he yelled to his brother.

“Time to eat dinner, so you guys better stop whatever you’re doing!” Michael grinned as he heard Luke snicker behind him.

The two boys walked out of Michael’s room, seeing Calum and Syrah walk out together in front of them and then go down the stairs hand in hand. At the bottom of the stairs, Calum glanced back at Michael and flipped him off with a smirk on his face. Their parents didn’t notice.

Michael, Luke, Calum, Syrah and Michael’s parents sat around the dinner table and in turn used a spatula to put a piece of lasagna on their plate. Luke, who hasn’t had lasagna before, tried a bite and immediately fell in love. A discussion began about how much Luke was missing out until now, causing laughter throughout the room.

Michael glanced Luke’s way between every bite of his food, feeling happy that his parents were really liking his new friend...who could possibly mean something more to him in the future.

“Your family’s amazing,” Luke sighed as he put on his shoes again at the door. It was 9 o’clock, and Calum had volunteered to drive Luke home before his parents hit up his phone.

“Thanks so much,” Michael replied, smiling. Luke stood up to his full height after tying his shoes and crossed his arms.

“And thank you for letting me hang out here. Your bedroom is amazing and it gave me inspiration for my own, so make sure to give your room my gratitude.” Luke laughed. Michael joined him in laughter, combing his hair with his fingers.

Michael walked Luke outside onto the driveway, seeing Calum waiting by his car with Syrah in his arms.

“Take your time, Luke, so I can have a longer time with my girl,” Calum joked, smiling as Syrah gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was going to be dropping her off too, most likely after he dropped off Luke so he could spend as much time as he wanted with her.

“Alright, alright,” Luke smiled. He turned to Michael and gave him a quick hug.

“Thanks again.” Luke said, giving Michael another perfect smile before getting into the backseat of Calum’s car. Michael waved goodbye, shooting him with an awkward finger gun. Calum backed out of the driveway allowing Michael some time to continue waving to his friend before the car sped away.

Michael walked back into his house and upstairs after saying goodnight to his parents, yawning.

“What a guy,” Michael thought aloud, knowing very well that he’d remember this night for a very long time.


	2. Someone Like You

Michael woke up with the feeling of happiness, which had stuck with him since the night before.

As he changed into his outfit for the day, Michael recalled how many times he made Luke laugh. 

He sighed in happiness as he styled his hair.

He smiled in happiness as he brushed his teeth.

He walked with happiness in each of his steps.

He said farewell to his parents in such a cheerful manner, they were surprised.

“And why are you so happy?” Calum asked his little brother, not able to conceal a smile because his brother seemed like rainbows and sunshine were radiating from his body.

“No-othing…” Michael replied. Calum’s smile stayed on his face too, his own memories from yesterday filling his mind. When Michael waltzed into his first class of the day, which was Potions, his happiness level went up even more when Sir Avery mentioned that the test was scheduled today was canceled.

“Today we’re gonna have something else to do. We’re gonna watch a video and take notes on the importance of reading instructions, because a certain classmate failed to do so. Your welcome, for this bittersweet opportunity.” The professor said.

Michael exhaled, clasping his hands together and looking over at Ashton.

“Guess what happened last night?” Michael asked him. Ashton shrugged, wondering what made Michael so giggly.

“What?”

“Luke came over to my house last night and we hung out. We also played Fortnite and I helped him with work for Astronomy. He ate dinner with me and my family too.” Michael answered. Ashton checked if Sir Avery was looking around the room before speaking.

“Really? He better not have gotten a better score than me.” Ashton said playfully, crossing his arms. Michael snickered and covered his mouth with his palm.

“Look, there he is,” Michael said, looking out the window like he did before. He saw the blonde boy, who was tapping his fingers against his desk.

Michael took out his cellphone and texted Luke, biting his lip and smiling as he sent the message.

‘Look to your right’ he texted. Michael waited patiently for Luke to see his text, and when he did, Michael smiled wide and wiggled his fingers at him. Luke repeated his action, throwing in a flirty wink.

Michael felt himself blush, then courageously and jokingly blew Luke a kiss. Luke almost made Michael laugh out loud by pretending to catch it, then start juggling the kiss and placing it on his cheek.

“My god...you guys are so cringey,” Ashton whispered, concealing a laugh. Michael smirked at Luke, gesturing for Luke to call him with the traditional ‘call me’ motion.

Luke finished their silent conversation by blowing a kiss to Michael, pretending to ‘fold’ the kiss into an imaginary paper airplane and flying it towards him. The whole time, Michael’s heart swelled, and helped him to remember how good it felt to develop a crush.

Most importantly, Michael realized that he’d never had a crush on anyone in a very long time. The last time he had a crush on someone, he told him, and it ended badly. Michael cringed as he remembered that the boy he liked never looked at or talked to him again after that.

The sad thing was that Michael had never told anyone yet that he was gay.

“Aye, Michael,” Ashton whispered, drawing his attention.

“Yeah?”

“You know how I like Lanea, right?”

“Yeah...what about her?”

“The best thing happened to me yesterday, too. After you left to go home, I saw her walking and I decided to walk up to her. And you know what she said?”

“No, what?”

“She said: Do you wanna get Starbucks with me? And you know I’ve been craving it for awhile now, so I agreed and we ended up hanging out at the cafe for, like, three hours.” Ashton said excitedly.

“That sounds amazing, but bro, did you be a gentleman and pay for her stuff?”

“Duh, why wouldn’t I? I would get anything for her to see a beautiful smile on her face.” Ashton said dreamily, placing his folded hands on his desk and gazing over at Lanea herself, who was three desks away from him.

Lanea had her head in her hands, lazily watching the video and occasionally writing notes down. Ashton nudged Michael when he saw Lanea brush her hair back behind her ear, exposing her spotless skin. Ashton shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

“God she looks so hot,” Ashton whispered, biting his lip. Michael rolled his eyes and smirked, shoving his best friend playfully.

As a person who only liked guys, Michael didn’t truly notice what was so fascinating about female features. He admired women when they were smart, confident, and talented, but when it came to features, he always ended up thinking about broad shoulders rather than soft lines.

All this time, he’d always pretended to agree with Ashton and his brother when they talked to him about how hot their crushes or girlfriends looked, but he really couldn’t agree.

His idea of a partner was a guy he could talk to all the time. Michael wanted to date someone he could laugh and talk about video games with, someone he knew would be friends with him even if they didn’t like him the same way.

Someone like Luke Hemmings.

Michael daydreamed about the blonde boy as he walked to his locker after class, grabbing another notebook and a sharpened pencil for his next class. He felt someone tapping his shoulder, and he turned around.

Bright blue eyes stared into his own, and Michael’s smile reflected onto Luke’s face.

“What do you think of escaping for the rest of the day?” Luke said with a playful look in his eyes.

“Escaping? You mean...skipping class?” Michael asked, a mischievous smile on his own face.

“Yeah. How about we get some fucking ice cream, why not?” Luke laughed, grabbing the corner of Michael’s locker door and opening it a little wider. Luke took the notebook and pencil from Michael’s hands, then put it into the locker.

“Alright then,” Michael answered, locking it and showing Luke the permanent smile that had been on his face ever since he woke up.

Luke told Michael he found an ice cream parlor nearby, where not many people in the academy knew but was still quite popular.

He led the way off the campus and down the street, getting questioning looks from fellow apprentices who were walking around campus during lunch.

“Have you ever been to Mocha Creme before?” Luke asked Michael. He shook his head.

“What’s your favorite ice cream? The parlor is most famous for its strawberry ice cream according to Yelp, despite its name.” Luke explained.

“My favorite ice cream is indeed strawberry, so I think I’ll get that,” Michael replied, and Luke nodded.

“My favorite is mint chocolate chip because it tastes so refreshing.”

“That’s actually my second favorite.”

“Oh, really? We should just get the big cup and then one scoop each in a waffle bowl.”

“That sounds hella good.”

“You damn right.” Luke finished the small talk with a small laugh.

When they reached the entrance of the parlor, Michael held the door open for Luke, earning another cute smile in gratitude.

They sat down at a high table by the counter so they could look at the choices while reserving their table. Luke volunteered to order and pay while Michael stayed at the table. The blonde brought back their waffle bowl with the two huge, delicious looking scoops of ice cream along with two spoons.

“Mm, oh my goodness this looks so good,” Luke sighed, picking up his spoon and picking up a huge bite of the mint chip. Michael laughed as he watched Luke nearly drop his ice cream scoop on his shirt.

“And this strawberry ice cream is extremely yet perfectly sweet,” Michael explained after he ate a bite. The two boys finished the scoops in silence, eating parts of the other’s every once in a while.

At times when they both wanted a bite of the waffle bowl, Luke lifted it up and they both bit off a piece at the same time while blushing...Lady and the Tramp style.

The whole moment of spending time with Luke and sharing ice cream with him made Michael want to pinch himself. This whole experience was too cute to be real, he almost convinced himself it was an actual dream.

Then again, Michael felt so grateful to experience this and to meet someone like Luke.

“Thanks for this delicious ass ice cream, this might have been the best strawberry ice cream I’ve had in my life.” Michael said, licking his top lip but still missing a drop of strawberry cream.

“Hahaha, I think it’s still there,” Luke laughed softly. Michael grinned, leaning closer to him.

“Could you get it for me? I honestly can’t reach it with my tongue.” Michael asked. Luke nodded, reaching out his thumb to Michael’s top lip. He slowly wiped the pad of his finger along Michael’s cupid’s bow, taking care to get all of the ice cream off.

Luke’s hand stayed there longer than he meant to, but he decided to keep it there. His other fingers propped Michael’s chin up so he would look into his eyes, and Luke suddenly had the thought of pressing his lips to the other boy’s.

“I…” Luke began, but he wasn’t able to finish his sentence. He found himself moving even closer to Michael, looking from his eyes to his lips. Then back again.

“Me too,” Michael replied, his voice barely above a whisper. And with that, Luke’s heart skipped a beat. The two boys didn’t know what they were saying, but at the same time, they felt like they had just understood each other completely.

Luke saw Michael close his eyes in front of him as he moved even closer, feeling Michael’s soft breathing against his lips before pressing them against Michael’s.

Luke closed his eyes, his mind racing. He felt Michael tilt his head to his left, so he tilted his head the opposite way in order to get even closer.

Michael tasted mint chocolate on Luke’s lips as they kissed, and couldn’t help but smile against them. Luke reached his hand out to Michael’s shirt collar, pulling him as close as he could possibly get without knocking over the remainder of the waffle bowl in between them.

Michael parted his lips very slightly, moving his head up and down a little bit to get more movement. Luke did the same, feeling happy when he noticed that Michael was smiling as he did so.

When they kissed long enough that they both had to take a breath, Michael pulled away.

“...Wow.” Luke whispered, a soft smile on his face. He looked at Michael, who was blushing so hard. The stars in his own eyes made him know that he was probably blushing too.

“Wow, what?” Michael replied.

“Wow, I mean...I’ve never kissed…”

“A guy?”

“...Yeah. I’ve never...kissed a guy before.” Luke said seriously. Michael bit his lip thoughtfully.

“Have you?” Luke asked.

“Um, yeah, I have. Only once. But--this kiss was...and felt like...so much more.” Michael paused in between each of the last three words. Luke nodded slowly.

“So...why did you kiss me?” Michael added. Luke didn’t respond.

He couldn’t.

As they walked out of the parlor and then decided to go back to the academy for their last class, Michael felt an awkwardness pass through his body. All of a sudden he felt anxious and insecure about whatever he did.

All Michael could think of as they split up to go to different classes was that he wanted to get their previous feelings of happiness back in order.

Ashton noticed the difference in Michael’s mood as they walked out of class together.

“You okay, bro?” He asked. Michael shrugged, unable to find the words.

“Remember, you can tell me anything. It’s what I’m here for.” Ashton continued. Michael felt relieved and grateful for Ashton’s presence, but he just didn’t feel right.

On the way home, Calum was still smiling like he did in the morning. Michael was a little jealous of how happy he was.

“Why are you the one who’s extremely happy now?” he asked his brother. Calum shrugged.

“Nothing.”

The one word answer stayed with Michael as the siblings went into their house and up the stairs to the privacy of their own rooms.

As Michael played video games on his switch, he wondered what he could talk to Luke about the next day. Michael recalled how he made a classic potion two days ago, and he immediately got an idea.

“Hey, Mom, do you have an empty vial?” he asked as he went back downstairs. His mom was on the couch, watching TV. She turned towards her son with a raised eyebrow.

“And what do you need that for?” she replied.

“Well, um...my professor for Potions really liked my love potion so he wanted me to bring a sample of it as an example for younger apprentices?” Michael’s answer sounded more like a confused question. His mom raised both her eyebrows this time.

“Alright, well, I have one in the cabinet above the sink so go ahead.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Michael replied. He followed her instructions and went into the kitchen, opening the cabinet and grabbing the vial. He walked over to the counter where the family cauldrons were, eyeing his and then retrieving a ladle.

Very carefully, he poured a small amount of the bubbly potion into the glass vial. Raising the vial to his eye level, Michael smiled softly and watched tiny rose-colored bubbles floating above its surface.

Michael’s plan was to show Luke his potion and talk about their classes more during lunch. After all, since Luke still didn’t know a lot about the academy, Michael could take away any awkward silence by talking about it more.

“You better not fool around with that potion of yours...remember one drop of any emotional type of potion is strong.” Michael’s mom reminded him. He nodded, rolling his eyes like the teenager he was.

He already knew that...in Year 9 there was a whole lesson about warnings and dangers of emotional potions. He swore to himself that he wouldn’t let anything happen to the potion during the next day.

Michael trudged upstairs and back into his room, placing the vial on top of his dresser. He stared at his phone which was on top of his bed, wondering if he should try texting Luke.

“...nah.” Michael said aloud. Another thought popped up in his mind. He went outside his room and knocked on his older brother’s door.

“Cal? Could I talk to you?” Michael called to him through the wood. All of a sudden, he heard the familiar sound of a laptop screen slamming closed.

“Uh...are you okay?” Michael laughed awkwardly. The door flew open, revealing a disheveled looking Calum running his fingers through his hair and breathing hard.

“Yeah, I’m fine, um...my laptop just--fell.” Calum replied, stepping to the side and letting his little brother in.

Calum’s room was always messy. Michael struggled to find spots of hardwood floor between hills of clothes, DVDs, albums, and stuff for the academy. He nearly stepped on an interesting looking album called 8 Letters before flopping on top of Calum’s bed.

“Bro, what the fuck, you just messed up my sheets,” Calum groaned. Michael laughed and raised his eyebrows.

“More than it was already messy?” he fired back, grinning. Calum rolled his eyes and casually walked over to his desk, sitting down at it.

“What’d you wanna talk about?” he asked. Michael exhaled, ready to let out his feelings.

“Well...first of all, I don’t mean to get to emotional and weird, but I wanna talk about someone that I...someone that I kissed. Today.”

Calum gasped, standing up and congratulating Michael by slapping him on the back. He sat back down in his desk chair and replied.

“Oh my god, bro, you kissed someone? Who is she?”

“Uh...that’s the problem…”

“What’s the problem?”

Michael stopped talking and paused for a second, then continued.

“The person who I kissed...isn’t a ‘she’. It’s a ‘he’.”

Silence followed. Calum took a deep breath, then patted his own knees thoughtfully.

“That...Mike, I don’t think that’s a problem, though. The fact that you kissed a guy is perfectly okay with me.” Calum murmured. Michael nodded slowly.

“Thank you.”

“No problem...I’m glad you told me. Um, when did you start...liking guys?”

“I started noticing different things about guys when I was in Year 8. I started liking them for sure last year. Then...I had a crush on a guy, but it just didn’t work. You’re also the first person I’ve ever told who I’m related to or friends with.” Michael played with the hem of his shirt as he spoke.

Calum nodded, feeling sorry for his little brother. He also felt happy that his brother told him about an important part of himself.

“Thank you for talking to me about this, Mike. I hope you find the right guy who loves you as much as you love yourself...if not more.”

The two brothers smiled at each other and met in the middle of Calum’s room to hug.

A few minutes later, they were watching Jurassic World on Calum’s TV.

“So...who did you kiss? Do I know him?” Calum asked. Michael blushed immediately.

“I kissed Luke. And yeah, obviously you do know him, seeing how he was here last night.”

“Daaang, already? He must like you then! When did you guys kiss?” Calum marveled, a smile on his face. Michael blushed even harder as he replied.

“We went to Mocha Creme, an ice cream place by the school to hang out during Lunch. We were sharing ice cream and then all of a sudden I had ice cream on my face but for some reason we were in the mood,” Michael giggled. Calum glanced over at his brother, glad he was feeling happier again.

“You skipped class? Shit, what a rebel.” Calum teased. Michael laughed.

“I mean, we were out until the last class, and we decided to go back at that time.”

“Ah. But then...if you’re so happy about that, why did you seem a little off during the ride home?”

“Well...after we kissed, he told me that I was the first guy he’s ever kissed. And then I asked him why he kissed me then. He didn’t answer. It just felt awkward...but the sad thing is that I could tell we both felt something when we kissed.”

Calum hummed, then asked Michael to pause the movie so he could focus on talking.

“Are you gonna try talking to him tomorrow?” he asked. Michael shrugged, then nodded slowly.

“If my feelings are true, and there’s definitely something that happened this afternoon...then me and Luke are worth trying for.” Michael replied.

The two boys continued playing after that until they heard their mom calling that dinner was ready.

As they walked downstairs, Michael turned to his older brother to say something that had been gnawing at his mind for a little while.

“Calum?”

“Yeah?”

They paused on the steps.

“Have you...did you have sex with Syrah yesterday?” Michael asked with a knowing smile on his face. Calum blushed, then laughed.

“Now that...is a question for another time.” Calum smirked and walked the rest of the way down the stairs, passing Michael and leaving him with more questions than he had in the beginning.


	3. In Slow Motion

When it was time for lunch, Michael decided to drown his feelings in some chicken alfredo. The desired lunch appeared in front of him, and he began to dig in as Ashton, Calum and Syrah sat down.

“Ugh, class was so boring today. I literally fell asleep as soon as I walked in.” Calum laughed. Syrah smiled brightly, her mood lifting with the sound of her boyfriend’s happiness.

“Well, I mean, since you guys are in Year 12, your classes must be easy since you already got the hard classes done. We still have them go to go through.” Ashton said, looking over at Michael.

Michael nodded slowly, but he wasn’t focused on the conversation. His eyes darted around the room, looking for a certain blonde quiff above all the other people’s heads.

He spotted Luke walking towards his table after a few minutes, and the familiar feeling of excitement came over him. Luke didn’t say a word to him as he sat down, much to his dismay.

“Hey, Luke,” Calum said, eyeing his little brother in the corner of his eye. He was clearly thinking the same thing as Michael--Luke was still shook from yesterday.

“Hey.” Luke said, raising his hand over his plate and summoning a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup. Syrah looked at him, wondering why he seemed so out of it.

“Are...are you okay?” she asked. Luke nodded, picking up his sandwich and taking a bite after dipping it into the soup. Michael sighed, staring at his pasta.

It was time to initiate a conversation.

Michael took the vial of the love potion from his pocket, hoping with all his heart that it would start something better than the conversation they were having.

“Check it out, Luke, this’s a potion I made a little while ago,” Michael said, showing it above the table and putting on a smile. Luke looked up, smiling but with only the edge of his mouth.

“Cool…” he murmured. Michael nearly sighed out of exasperation, but luckily, Calum saved him.

“What color is it again? I can’t see, it’s a little far from me.” He cut in. Michael handed over the potion to his brother, watching him as he unscrewed the vial and raised it up to eye level. Syrah’s eyes brightened when she saw the pink bubbles on its surface.

“I love how decorative it looks even though it’s just another potion...” she said, leaning against Calum’s shoulder as she watched the tiny bubbles move around. Michael was eyeing his potion too, but he was still seeing how Luke reacted to every word.

The blonde was simply focusing on his phone and his food, not even acknowledging Syrah’s comments or anything that was said at the table.

A small clang was heard as Luke suddenly dropped his spoon for the soup.

“I...I’m gonna go find another one.” He said, and before Michael could tell him he could have his, Luke stood up and walked away.

Michael immediately let out a breath.

“What the fuck did I do…” Michael said, putting his head in his hands. Ashton cocked his head, confused.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, unsure of what Michael meant. Michael’s eyes grew big, remembering that Ashton didn’t know anything about him and Luke and the kiss. He snapped his head up, glancing at Calum.

They mentally agreed not to mention any specifics.

“He was just talking about one of his professors...they got mad at him the other day and he doesn’t know what he did wrong.” Calum said quickly. Ashton nodded.

“Oh, okay.”

“I just...I guess I just feel really stressed about the whole project. I really wanna make it right with my professor but they don’t seem like they wanna talk to me.” Michael said, inputting Calum’s prompt and covering the real story. Ashton hummed in thought.

“Maybe you can try talking to your professor. He or she probably just has something else on their mind and had been preoccupied or something.” He reasoned. Michael raised his eyebrows. Without even knowing the truth, Ashton had a point.

Calum returned the vial back to Michael, and then Michael raised the vial to eye level one more time to see the reaction. Potion-making had always been fascinating to him, but just this once, it didn’t make him feel any better.

“If only this could have wor--ah!” Michael gasped as someone behind him accidentally made the vial be knocked out of his hands.

Everything happened in slow motion, with Michael covering his mouth with his hand in shock. He stared at the vial as its open spout tumbled through the air right above Luke’s tomato soup, and he gasped as he saw a few drops fall into the red liquid.

Luckily, the vial landed and rolled off the table with the rest of its contents spilling out on the floor, but Michael couldn’t help but get stressed out.

“Oh no, oh no, holy shit, no no no no,” Michael cursed over and over again as he tried to fish out the potion’s drops in the soup with his own spoon. Calum, Syrah and Ashton, who saw the whole thing happen, were frozen in shock.

“Oh my fucking god…” Ashton said slowly in a scared whisper, not knowing what to say. All Syrah could do was stare at the soup, which was obviously getting even more mixed with the potion than being separated from it.

“Michael, stop, you’re making it worse...” Calum’s voice trailed off as he watched Michael unsuccessfully take the drops out. Whenever Michael dipped his spoon in the tomato soup, the more the drops disappeared.

“I...I can’t watch, I don’t even know what to do,” Syrah said, extremely shocked. Everyone else at the table silently agreed, not even knowing how they could explain to Luke that there was now a strong emotional potion in his lunch.

Michael tried one more time, but as the seconds passed he thought himself as crazy because he couldn’t even distinguish the drops from the soup anyway.

“I’m so fucking buste--” Michael stopped talking as he saw Luke approaching the table again with a plastic spoon in hand. Ashton gasped, and Calum facepalmed himself. Syrah pretended to be immersed in her phone, but she was biting her lip in worry.

Everyone simply stared at Luke as he casually sat down and got ready to dip his new spoon in his soup.

“...what are you guys looking at?” Luke asked them, turning around to check if they were actually looking at something behind them. No one could answer.

Michael looked at the soup, then back at Luke.

“Is there...something in my soup? Do you guys not like tomato?” Luke said, laughing nervously. Ashton flinched. Luke immediately knew he just said something...but he thought it was about the vegetable.

“You guys should really try tomato soup, it’s really good if you dip grilled cheese in it. I have it all the time at home.” Luke said, picking up the last bite of his sandwich and dipping it all the way in the red liquid.

Michael, Ashton, Calum and Syrah stared in shock at him as he put it in his mouth and chewed. Luke looked at all of them, getting really confused.

“You guys are looking at me as if I’m a ghost or something...it’s just tomato soup!” He said while chewing. Calum squinted his eyes and knotted his eyebrows, wondering if the potion was strong enough to affect him rapidly.

“Look, I even have it alone sometimes.” Luke said, grabbing his spoon and getting a hearty amount from the soup. He slowly put that into his mouth too, and then knotted his eyebrows in concern.

“Seriously, can someone say something?” he said after swallowing. He was clearly starting to get a little angry.

“Oh, it’s, um, nothing. I just...you were right, we don’t like tomato. But we’ve all tried it before.” Ashton spoke, covering for everyone else. Calum exhaled, along with Syrah.

“Okay…” Luke said, glad to see everyone talking again after he started finishing his soup. Michael, Calum, Ashton and Syrah continued to pretend everything was fine after that, not wanting to raise suspicion.

As the last class was wrapping up, Ashton sat on top of Michael’s desk and thanked God Luke didn’t have the same class.

“What the hell, Michael, we gotta fix this. Luke will obviously find out when we de-spell him, but I don’t even know what’s gonna happen until then.” Ashton sighed. Michael nodded, putting his head in his hands.

“Maybe...maybe it won’t be that strong. I mean, it was only a few drops.” Michael said, but he knew he was kidding himself. Ashton laughed halfheartedly and shook his head.

“You’re kidding yourself.”

“Trust me, I know.”

Ashton looked around the classroom, noticing that Lanea was still packing her stuff up. He nudged Michael, then gestured to her without her noticing. Michael raised an eyebrow. What was Ashton trying to say?

“What are you trying to tell me, bro? Did you guys kiss or something?” Michael whisper-asked. Ashton shook his head, blushing. He leaned closer to his friend and then whispered in his ear.

“We could ask Lanea if she could help us with de-spelling, because she had one for her potion, remember? Maybe she could help us make one...I don’t know how.” Ashton said. Michael’s eyes grew big, realizing that Ashton was telling the truth.

“Well...you ask her.” Michael said. Ashton gasped.

“Bro, I don’t have the balls to.”

“Seriously? It’s just asking her a simple question. All you have to do is walk up there and ask her.”

“What if she asks us why we need one? She’s really smart and she could easily counteract us.”

“Oh shit, she’s leaving, go go go!” Michael exclaimed, pushing Ashton off his desk and laughing as his friend awkwardly sauntered over to his crush.

After a few minutes of watching Ashton and Lanea talk, Michael raised his eyebrows as Lanea suddenly stood up and strode over to his desk. She put her hands on her hips and then spoke.

“Okay, I honestly don’t know why you guys want me to help you with this and make a de-spelling potion, but whatever. I will help you, as long as…” Lanea’s voice trailed off. Ashton looked at her, confused. Michael waited for her to continue.

“I’ll help you as long as Ashton promises he’ll go on a date with me.” Lanea finished, then stared at her feet. Ashton inhaled, shocked. She clearly didn’t know that he liked her, until now. Michael looked between the two lovebirds, then crossed his arms and smiled.

“Of course I’ll go on a date with you,” Ashton said, stars in his eyes as the two teenagers looked at one another. Michael rolled his eyes and laughed, feeling happy for his best friend.

“Okay, guys, so when could we work on making the potion? Lanea, do you still have the de-speller you made along with your potion that you presented?” Michael asked.

“Um, sorry, no. I actually made the potion for one of my family members because one of my little cousins got in a silly accident. I have none left. And...it also took three days to make.” Lanea sighed.

The three apprentices walked out of their classroom together, talking more about the situation and talking to Lanea about how to make the de-speller.

As Michael parted ways with Lanea and Ashton, he noticed someone walking up to him out of the corner of his eye.

“Michael!” Luke’s voice startled him, and all of a sudden he was hugged tightly from behind. Michael felt a laugh sound out from his throat.

“Wha-at?” He said, laughing in between. Luke made him stop walking and turned him around so they would look at each other. Luke was breathless, with a big smile on his face.

“I was waiting for you to come out of your class ever since my last class ended, and now here you are!” Luke said cheerfully, opening his arms and wrapping them around Michael gently. Michael smiled…

...and then realized that he was the one Luke immediately fell in love with.

[A/N: The number one fact about love potions in their world is that whoever’s spelled, in this case Luke, will fall in love with person they were last thinking of. The effects aren’t instantaneous, but the effects did hit Luke when he was in his last class.]

“Yeah, here I am…” Michael breathed, hugging Luke back and then stepping away quickly. He looked into Luke’s eyes, seeing an odd swirl of purple coming over them.

That was the obvious sign that someone was spelled. His parents would surely notice.

“Hey, Luke, um...do you wanna sleep over?” Michael asked him. Luke jumped for joy and closed his eyes in happiness, clasping his hands together.

“I’d love to sleep over at your house! Are we going there now?” Luke asked. Michael nodded, seeing Calum pull up in his car by the sidewalk. Michael glanced at Luke, then laced his fingers through his.

Luke giggled to himself as Michael led him to Calum’s car, and Michael immediately saw Calum’s worried face.

“Hey, Luke,” Calum said nervously, watching as Luke slid into the backseat with Michael.

“Why you sitting in the back?” Calum asked.

“Luke told me he doesn’t wanna let go,” Michael muttered in reply, showing Calum their intertwined fingers. Calum nodded, his eyebrows knotting together as he started to drive away. Luke looked over at Michael and smiled the whole way to Michael’s house.

“Text your parents that you’re sleeping over,” Michael told the blonde. Luke nodded quickly, grabbing his cell and then texting as fast as he could. He immediately continued to stare lovingly at Michael after he put his phone away.

“Oh, you’re sleeping over?” Calum asked from the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, Michael invited me to. Tonight’s gonna be amazing!” Luke said excitedly, then gasped as Calum accidentally swerved on the road.

“Oop, um, just saw some roadkill on the street! Sorry guys.” Calum commented, unconvincingly. Michael sighed, looking at Luke and giving him a soft smile as the blonde lay his head on Michael’s shoulder.

Michael looked at the driver’s rearview mirror, accidentally making eye contact with Calum. He looked away.

Calum, Luke and Michael walked into the house together, and Michael’s parents greeted Luke.

“How are you doing, honey? Everything going well so far in a new school?” Michael’s mom asked. Luke beamed, nodding.

“Especially because I just fell in love with M--” Michael clapped his palm over Luke’s mouth before letting him finish his sentence. Michael’s mom looked at him in shock.

“Why’d you do that?” she asked. Michael thought of an excuse in a split second. He glanced at Calum before he spoke, glaring at him because Calum was just casually sitting on the couch and texting on his phone.

“Um, Luke just fell in love with magic, because he loves his classes. I was just checking his mouth because I saw that--his...lips were dry. Yup, he needs some chapstick. Let’s go upstairs, Luke, I have some in my room.” Michael said quickly. He kept his hand on Luke’s mouth as he pushed him upstairs, giving his mom a smile before they disappeared from her view.

Downstairs, Michael’s mom tilted her head in confusion.

“Calum...is Michael hiding something from me?” she asked her oldest son. He looked up from his phone, oblivious to what just happened.

Michael pushed Luke into his room and closed the door behind them.

“Sorry, I know I’m weird, I--” Michael’s voice was cut off. Luke was kissing him. But before he could process the kiss, Luke pulled away.

“Don’t bring yourself down. You’re amazing, you’re hot, you’re talented, you’re funny...you’re not weird at all, at least to me. I love you.” Luke whispered to Michael. Michael blushed, wringing his hands together.

“There’s that smile I’m looking for!” Luke said, kissing Michael on the cheek and giving him another hug. Luke turned towards Michael’s bed and then sat on the edge.

“By the way, my parents texted it was okay for me to sleep over here but they don’t know why I’m doing this. What should I tell them?” he asked. Michael’s eyes widened.

Ever since the ride home, Michael has had to think spontaneously and at the snap of a finger.

“Um, just tell him I wanted to watch a movie with you that I think you’d like, and you really wanted to hang out again.” he replied. Luke nodded, then relayed the message out to text his parents.

Michael rummaged through his clothes and brought out a pair of shorts and an old band tee for Luke to sleep in.

“Thanks, baby,” Luke replied, and Michael had to laugh. He was not used to this.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Michael’s eyes darted to Luke, then asked him to ‘get something for him in his clothes drawer’. While Luke went over to the section of the room and pulled open the drawers, Michael opened his door.

Luckily, the person standing outside was not any of his parents.

“It’s okay, I’m not Mom or Dad.” Calum laughed, walking past his little brother and stepping into the bedroom. He noticed Luke going through Michael’s clothes, and then he sat down in Michael’s desk chair.

“Wait, what do you need me to get from your drawers, Mikey?” Luke asked, turning around to see Michael sitting down on his bed in relief. Michael waved it off, so Luke sat next to him on the bed as Calum watched the two of them.

“Wow...this is really bad.” Calum muttered, staring at Luke. The blonde tilted his head, confused.

“What’s he talking about, babe?” Luke asked Michael, holding his hand. Michael shook his head, glaring at his older brother.

“He’s just talking about how messy my room is. Whatever. Anyway, yeah, it is really...MESSY.” Michael replied, making sure Calum knew to talk about the matter like it was about his room rather than Luke.

“How are you going to fix your room? Our PARENTS will obviously notice the change in it. Other people might notice too. You better fix it as soon as possible.” Calum said.

“I know, I already talked to Ashton about it and he’s gonna ask Lanea if she could help with the mess too.” Michael answered. Calum nodded, playing with his fingers as he thought of what else to say.

“The mess is really obvious too.” he added. Michael nodded. Luke resorted to playing with Michael’s fingers as the two brothers talked, because he didn’t know or care about what they were saying.

“Michael, before we watch the movie we should build a fort! Let’s make your bedroom like a cute post on Pinterest!” Luke said, smiling brightly. Calum sighed.

“You know what, I’m gonna go back to my room. I’m starting to feel a little uncomfortable with this...mess.” He laughed, heading out of the room and closing the door again behind him.

With a little more convincing, Michael decided to build a fort with Luke.

Luke kept smiling at Michael as they assembled blankets around the room, weighing down the corners with objects. Michael kept blushing and smiling back at Luke. The two boys fixed up the fort so the blankets would be hovering over them, then Michael opened Netflix on his phone.

Luke grabbed a pillow from Michael’s bed and then sat on the floor with him, letting out a laugh. The feeling of happiness that radiated from Luke overflowed to Michael as time passed.

“You’re so...excited.” Michael said, smiling as he sat down next to Luke. He propped up his phone on a pillow and then leaned against the wall. Luke did the same, raising Michael’s left arm and then leaning into Michael’s side comfortably.

“I always feel excited when I’m around you...you always surprise me yet it just feels perfect. All the time.” Luke said softly. Michael nodded, his heart beating fast.

As Wreck-It-Ralph started, Michael leaned against Luke while supporting him too. A little while into the movie, Luke looked up at Michael and gave him another genuine smile.

“I’m so in love with you,” Luke mumbled, placing his left hand on Michael’s cheek and turning his face gently towards his own. Michael glanced at Luke’s lips, then his eyes, then back again.

Luke couldn’t help but smile even bigger when he moved closer. Michael closed his eyes as he felt Luke kiss him, and he wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist to pull him closer.

Luke wrapped his arms around Michael’s neck, then moved his lips against his. The two boys repeatedly kissed one another, taking the time to look at each other for a few seconds before kissing again.

Although kissing Luke made Michael so happy, he knew that Luke wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for the potion. Michael felt more sad with every kiss, but he couldn’t move away. He wanted to keep on being here, with Luke, until Luke found out that he was influenced by a stupid potion.

Luke moved even closer, lifting himself up and then straddling Michael’s waist. Michael continued to kiss the blonde, gripping Luke’s hips with his hands. Luke smiled against Michael’s lips, making Michael notice how happy he made him feel.

Michael felt like he was gonna cry.

All he could think about was what’s going to happen when Luke is de-spelled.

Michael knows that he’s going to be mad at him. Luke might even treat him like he’d been treated before. Michael felt a tear come out of his eye as Luke continued to make out with him. Michael choked back a sob, trying to conceal his sadness. The worst thing is that Luke won’t remember these moments.

Luke noticed.

“Why are you crying…” Luke whispered, moving away from Michael a little and then reaching up to wipe away his tears. Michael leaned into Luke’s hand, kissing his palm and then letting his tears fall. Michael wished this moment would last forever.

“I’m crying because...I’m in love with you too,” Michael sobbed quietly, opening his arms and falling into Luke’s chest. Luke kissed Michael’s cheek as the older boy cried silently into his shoulder. Luke’s eyes flickered, showing a flash of blue. But, sadly, it turned back into purple.

The potion’s effects had disappeared...but only for a second.

After Michael calmed down, and Luke returned to sit at his side, the two boys shared a calm silence while they watched the remainder of the movie. Luke stroked Michael’s hand with his thumb all throughout the movie, reminding Michael that he was there and he was real.

When it was time for dinner, Michael and Luke sat next to each other at the table and listened to Michael’s parents talk about what happened at work today and ask Calum how school was. Michael’s mom and dad didn’t notice Luke’s purple eyes, much to Michael’s luck.

As the two young apprentices walked upstairs to get ready for bed, Luke stopped Michael before he went into the bathroom to take a shower. He reached out his hand and held Michael’s, a loving look on his face.

“Michael…” Luke said. Michael nodded slowly, watching Luke’s face.

“Could I sleep with you in your bed tonight?” Luke asked. Michael stepped closer to Luke, wrapping an arm around his waist and kissing him softly.

“Yes.” Michael whispered. Luke stepped away, smiling. He went into Michael’s room as Michael went into the bathroom, with one last look at the blonde before the door closed shut.

After Luke showered and changed into the loaned pajamas, Michael watched Luke lift up his covers and tuck himself in next to him.

“Hi,” Luke whispered, his hand tucked under his head. They were both facing each other, and their free hands were holding each other’s. Michael looked at Luke through his eyelashes, looking over Luke’s hair down to their joined hands.

“Hi.”

They lay in silence for a few more minutes, before Luke decided to move closer and nestle into Michael’s arms.

“This...this is nice.” Luke murmured. Michael nodded, his lips grazing gently against Luke’s forehead.

Michael’s heart began to hurt again when the thought of Luke not remembering this hit him.

“Kiss me,” Michael said softly. Luke looked up at him and obeyed without any hesitation.

Michael felt the most in love with Luke than he ever had before. Even if they’d known each other for a few days, Michael felt like Luke could be the one he’d been waiting for ever since he became sure of his sexuality.

“I wish I could stay in your arms forever,” Michael heard Luke say. Luke put his ear on Michael’s chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“Do you hear that?” Michael asked him. Luke nodded against Michael’s chest.

“That’s for you.” Michael added.

He had never felt so sure about what he said as much as he did now.

“I love you.” Luke replied. Michael tightened his hug around Luke, and closed his eyes.

The two people in love fell asleep together, wrapped in each other’s arms.


	4. Behind the Scenes

Michael’s eyes fluttered open to the sound of his alarm, and he found that he couldn’t move.

“Wait, wha--oh.”

His arms were still wrapped around Luke, pinned under his body and his shoulders. He strangely didn’t feel like his arms were asleep, though. So that was a good thing.

Michael yawned as quiet as he could, not wanting to wake Luke up yet. His alarm was programmed to turn on two hours before classes started, so they’d be fine if they slept for a little longer.

Michael slowly removed one of his hands from under Luke, successfully turning off the alarm without waking him up. Michael chuckled softly because he realized that Luke must be a heavy sleeper...he did have a loud alarm clock.

Michael found himself lightly brushing Luke’s hair to the side, occasionally kissing him on the forehead. Michael couldn’t help it. Luke looked so adorable in the morning.

When he stopped brushing his hair for a second to scratch his nose, Luke whined and moved his head under Michael’s chin. Michael smiled.

“I can’t brush your hair forever, my hand will get tired,” he murmured. Luke smiled, wrapping his arms around Michael’s waist.

“But you can brush it a little longer,” Luke replied, picking up Michael’s hand and putting it on his head. Michael laughed and then continued to brush the blonde locks to the side. After about ten more minutes, Michael realized that they should really start getting ready for MAA.

“Time to get up.” Michael sighed, slowly taking his arms out from under Luke and sitting up. He yawned and stretched, reaching for the ceiling. He looked down at Luke’s sleeping face, a smile appearing on his own.

“Lu-uke…” Michael whispered, wishing he could just stay in bed with Luke all day before this time would end. Luke groaned, grabbing the pillow and covering his head with it. Michael laughed and took the pillow off, revealing Luke’s face staring up at him.

“Help me sit up,” Luke begged, opening up his arms and reaching out to Michael. The older boy laughed, leaning down and wrapping his arms around Luke’s midsection. Before Michael could help him, though, Luke made Michael fall back down to his side.

“Ha!” Luke laughed loudly, kissing all over Michael’s face. Michael laughed with him and reached his hands down to Luke’s waist, tickling him. Laughter filled the room as Luke wiggled away from Michael’s fingers and fell out of the bed.

All of a sudden, Calum opened Michael’s door.

“While you guys are acting like dorks, some people are trying to get ready for class in peace.” He said, smirking when he noticed Michael and Luke laughing. Luke was rolling around on the floor.

“Come on guys, it’s not like you could just take your time getting ready. It’ll soon be time to leave…” Calum said, disappearing from sight.

Michael got out of his bed, pulling Luke up from the floor and then giving him one last tickle on his side.

“Okay, stop, stop, I’m gonna change,” Luke giggled, stealing some clothes from Michael’s drawers and then going into the bathroom. Michael changed in his room, waiting for Luke to be finished.

When Luke stepped out of the bathroom, Michael smiled. Luke just happened to choose his favorite red and black plaid flannel.

“You look so young in that, how old could you be, 15?” Michael joked, and Luke smiled back. Michael sauntered into the bathroom and got ready quickly, walking out with a hand on his hip.

“Here we have Michael Clifford wearing a complete outfit from Hot Topic. From his black skinny jeans all the way up to his Green Day tee, Michael is truly setting the stage for every Hot Topic lover out there.” Luke said, holding an imaginary microphone up to his mouth.

Michael laughed, walking into Luke’s arms and giving him a hug. They separated to grab their phones and Luke’s old clothes from last night, then walked downstairs.

“Hurry up and grab a pop tart, cuz we’ll be late if you think you could eat a fancy breakfast,” Calum ordered, grabbing an iced strawberry toaster pastry from its box and then going outside to his car.

“Seems like you guys had fun hanging out last night, huh?” Michael’s mom asked him and Luke, and Michael nodded. His mom gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before they left, and Luke waved goodbye as they walked out the door.

Calum drove to MAA in silence, and Luke and Michael got the opportunity to sit together in the backseat and hold each other’s hands.

When they got out of the car and stopped at their lockers to get stuff for class, Michael and Luke hugged one another.

“See you at lunch, Mikey,” Luke said, kissing him on the cheek. Michael blushed, hoping no one saw them acting like this. Out of the corner of his eye, Michael saw Ashton looking at him with big doe eyes.

“See you,” Michael replied, watching him walk away before going into his class. Ashton plopped down in the desk next to him, trying to pick up his jaw from the floor.

“What the fuck…Michael?” Ashton said, extremely shocked.

Michael didn’t know how to respond.

“He was thinking about you last? Oh my god...and you’re letting him kiss you like that? Are you...do you…” Ashton’s voice trailed off as he saw Michael nod to him.

“Yes, I’m the person he ended up falling in love with. And yes, I’m letting him kiss me like that. And...yes, I’m gay.” Michael rushed. Ashton took a deep breath, crossing his arms and then staring at the front of the room. Michael brushed his fingers through his hair in thought.

Was Ashton thinking badly of him?

“You...you should have told me. You could have told me.” Ashton mumbled. Inside, the brunette felt sad because he thought Michael felt like he could tell him anything. Clearly, he was wrong.

“Ashton...I just wasn’t ready yet.” Michael replied, lowering his voice to a whisper as their professor began the lesson. Ashton sighed, looking the opposite direction from Michael.

After class, Michael wasn’t able to talk to Ashton before he left the room. Michael watched as Ashton gathered up his things at the speed of light and speed-walked out the door.

Lanea, who had the class with them, noticed. She approached Michael cautiously, seeing how she still didn’t know him very well.

“Hey, Michael...is Ashton okay?” she asked. Michael shrugged.

“Could I hang out with you guys at lunch today?” Lanea continued. Michael nodded. His muteness still made her confused and wary, but she was grateful that she at least got some sort of answer.

When it was time for lunch, Michael walked with his head down on the way to his regular table. As he got there, he saw Calum, Lanea, Ashton and Syrah looking back at him in a concerned way.

“Um...everything okay?” he muttered. Syrah glanced at Ashton. He sighed.

“I--I’m sorry, Michael. I didn’t mean to tell Calum, Syrah and Lanea, but it just came out. All I did was sit down at this table at the beginning of lunch and tell them what you told me.” Ashton explained. Michael let out a deep breath and shook his head, processing his words.

“You...you told everyone here I’m gay?” he asked. Ashton nodded slowly. To his surprise, Michael shrugged. He spoke slowly as he sat down.

“I mean...I did tell Calum just recently...but I guess it’s okay if just Syrah and Lanea know besides you and my brother. Just...don’t tell anyone else.” Michael commented. Ashton nodded, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Again, I’m sorry though. It just really surprised me and I couldn’t help but tell someone.”

“I know.”

“So...where’s Luke?” Ashton asked. As if on cue, Luke stepped up behind Michael and wrapped his arms around his neck in a cute hug.

“Hey, guys!” Luke said cheerfully. Michael blushed, moving to the right to give Luke space. Food appeared around the table as people began to eat lunch.

Everyone also started to talk about other things, but once in a while, Michael felt their eyes on either Luke or him. Michael even saw Lanea putting her arm through Ashton’s and whispering into his ear.

“Hey, Lanea, can I talk to you for a bit?” Michael suddenly asked. She nodded, looking at Ashton before standing up at the same time as Michael. The two apprentices walked away from the table and into the hall of lockers.

“Everything okay?” she asked him as soon as they were out of earshot.

“I just...want to get this over with. What do we need for the Elimination potion?” Michael asked, wringing his hands together. Lanea cocked her head in thought.

“Well, actually...I have all the ingredients, so I could get it all added by tonight. But I’ll need help getting it started because it’s quite a process.” she replied. Michael nodded.

“I’ll tell Ashton...do you think we could go over to your house tonight and start it?”

“Of course, I’ll just tell my dad.”

Lanea and Michael nodded and smiled softly at each other for a moment before a thought popped up in Lanea’s mind.

“Oh, and Michael?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think Ashton likes in a girl?”

Michael smiled.

“Lanea...he already likes you. Don’t tell him I told you this, but he sees you a lot in class and tells me how much he likes you. I’ve heard a lot about how pretty you look even if you’re just writing in your notebook or simply staring straight ahead. Just...be yourself.”

Lanea gave Michael a genuine smile, turning around and then walking back into the lunch room.

They sat down at the table, returning to eat their food and talk to the people around them.

At the end of the day, Michael told Calum that he would be going to Lanea’s house to work on the Elimination potion, and Calum nodded. He also swore to cover for Michael when he got home. Like a good brother, Calum was there.

Ashton, Lanea and Michael waited on the front sidewalk at MAA’s entrance, waiting for Lanea’s dad to pull up in front of them.

Soon enough, Lanea waved to her dad, who was driving towards them. She went into the passenger seat as Michael and Ashton went in the back. Lanea’s dad immediately turned around and smiled at the boys.

“Dad, meet Michael Clifford and...Ashton Irwin.” Lanea introduced them, blushing when she said Ashton’s name.

“Oh, so this is Ashton Irwin? This is the famous boy you’ve talked about? Ha ha, well it’s nice to meet a celebrity. I’m Akoni. But for now, you call me Mr. K.” Lanea’s dad laughed when he saw Ashton blush. They shook hands.

As Mr. K. began to drive away from the school, Michael stared out of the window. Luke was texting him, talking about a new show they should binge-watch together. Michael showed Ashton Luke’s texts, and then suddenly remembered that Luke’s eyes still looked purple.

“Oh shoot,” Michael whispered, receiving a concerned look from his best friend.

“What, what’s wrong?” Ashton asked. Michael facepalmed himself and then whispered into Ashton’s ear.

“Ash, Luke’s eyes are still purple. What if his parents see? What are they gonna do?”

Ashton moved away, his eyes growing big. He exhaled, then whispered into Michael’s ear.

“All we can do is hope that it doesn’t raise suspicion. Maybe they won’t stare deeply into Luke’s eyes. You never know,” Ashton said. Michael sighed, hoping for the best.

About fifteen more minutes passed as Mr. K. drove to him and Lanea’s house, and then they pulled up on the driveway.

Her father grinned as he parked the car on the driveway, then got out. Ashton and Michael stepped out with Lanea, following one after the other to Lanea’s front door.

“Take off your shoes before you go in, please, because dirt isn’t a good friend of mine.” Mr. K. said with a wink. Ashton and Michael laughed politely and obeyed, then followed Lanea into her living room.

Her and her dad had arranged their cauldrons against the wall, and Ashton immediately peered into the one with Lanea’s name engraved on it.

“It’s a shame I had to use up all of my Elimination,” she sighed, looking at Ashton with worry. Michael shrugged it off.

“That’s okay. We have time.”

Ashton nodded, agreeing with his friend’s comment.

“Let me just grab my cauldron and then I’ll lead you guys to my room.” Lanea said, walking over to her cauldron and then grabbing it with the handles. Michael and Ashton followed her as she walked through the house, stopping in front of a door.

“Could you open this for me? Thanks,” she said, watching as Ashton pushed the door open. Michael stared in awe as it revealed a completely tropical setting.

Thin branches of green leaves fell from the ceiling and lightly covered the walls. Many hanging plants were also there, creating a nice touch. Lanea truly wanted her bedroom on the mainland to reflect her previous one on the island.

“Welcome to my room, guys,” Lanea said, placing down her cauldron on a desk and then sweeping her arms out. Michael looked up, his head tilting back all the way.

On the ceiling was a soft yellow light in the shape of a sun, illuminating the room and casting a nice glow. On the walls were many framed pictures of Lanea holding a surfboard, baby Lanea playing on the beach, and standing with a pretty brunette woman with a huge smile on her face.

“That’s my mom…” she said, noticing Michael looking at one of the photos. Lanea picked it up, hugging it to her chest before setting it back down. She handed the guys a bag of chips that were previously on her bed, letting them have some.

“How do we start this?” Michael asked her, sitting at her desk. She gestured to a shelf full of potion ingredients.

“First of all, lucky for you, I really love making potions. I have all the ingredients to make around 30 potions and leave stuff to spare.” Lanea boasted. Ashton applauded, his mouth full of Lays Original.

“If you get that clear blue bottle right there, the one labeled ‘Magic Base’, that’s how we’ll start this thing.” Lanea instructed. Michael followed her directions and grabbed the bottle from the shelf, giving it to her.

“Let me just get my book of potions, and then I’ll read the instructions aloud.”

Lanea sat down on her bed, then bent down to look under it. Apparently, she kept a lot of her books and other things under it instead of keeping it on her desk. She reached under, pulling out a thick black book.

“My mom always loved to make potions, too, so she lent me this journal of recipes, before--” Lanea paused, then cleared her throat. Ashton looked at her with concern, putting down the bag of chips on her desk.

“Could you read us the instructions?” He asked, speaking slowly and calmly.

“S-sure...well, here they are.” Lanea replied, flipping through the pages until she came across the correct recipe.

“Um, the first thing we always need when we’re making a potion is the magic base. Since we already have that here, everything else is easy to get. The Elimination potion requires only three more ingredients: a drop of filtered water to signify refreshment, a few particles of dirt to signify a new beginning, and then...uh oh.” Lanea stopped. Michael’s eyes widened.

“What, what do we need?” he asked, worried. Lanea looked between him and Ashton, then gulped.

“We’ll need...we’ll need a part of something in relation to the potion that’ll be eliminated from Luke.” Lanea said. Ashton scratched his head thoughtfully.

“Could you...describe that more?” he asked. Lanea nodded.

“Well, in Elimination potions, the magic will only work if we include those basic ingredients and then that important ingredient. What I believe the ingredient means is that--seeing how Luke was spelled with a love potion--the ingredient has to be related to love, and at the same time, related to Luke.” she explained.

“Example, please?” Michael said halfheartedly. He was getting so confused with every passing second.

“Okay...for example, if I was spelled with, I dunno, a strong truth potion? The Elimination potion that could be given to me would consist of the water and ground particle, plus...hmm...plus, something that reflects the general definition of truth, but also how I would personally define it. So now, since we have to find an ingredient like that for Luke’s Elimination potion, I suggest we find something that’s meaningful in love according to Luke. And we all know who could find out what the ingredient is.”

Lanea sighed, and then made eye contact with Michael. Michael raised his eyebrows, then glanced at Ashton. The brunette was staring at him too.

“Me?” Michael muttered. Lanea nodded slowly.

“Well, bro...he is obviously in love with you right now. Think hard about what he loves so much about you, or about something you both experienced in the past when the feeling of love was highest.” Ashton reasoned.

Michael exhaled, putting his head in his hands.

“I have a lot of thinking to do…” he mumbled, his voice trailing off. Lanea straightened up, a thought popping up in her mind.

“For now, we could get the easier ingredients and start mixing them together with the base. The sad thing is that once we actually get all the ingredients together, the potion will take three days to make. But don’t worry, we don’t have to think about that right now…” she said.

“I could help you with the easy ingredients.” Ashton said, crossing his arms. Lanea nodded, handing him an empty paper cup to hold the dirt and water in.

“Michael, you can stay here and prepare my cauldron by pouring the magic base in, okay? Feel free to have more chips.” Lanea said softly, acknowledging the fact that Michael was still a little shook. She walked out of her room with Ashton, leaving Michael to ponder at her desk.

Ashton followed Lanea, watching her retreating back as they stepped out of the room. Lanea led him through her kitchen and living room to get to the backyard door. Ashton looked around a little, admiring how nice her house was.

Lanea opened her screen door that led to her backyard, holding it open for Ashton. He stepped outside, breathing in the fresh air.

“Could you hand me the empty cup?” Lanea asked him. Ashton obliged and gave the cup to her, watching as she crouched onto the ground and moving her hand lightly over the top of the soil. She was very immersed in the way she chose the perfect area of soil.

“Is there a certain way to find the right soil, or something?” Ashton asked, smiling. He crouched down next to her, reaching his hand out and imitating her. She laughed softly, shaking her head.

“Ok yeah, there is a certain way, but...you’re doing it wrong.” She reached over to his hand and covered it with hers, guiding his hand slower and moving it so it grazed against the ground’s surface.

“First of all...some people think I’m crazy when I say that there’s different kinds of dirt.” Lanea laughed. Ashton listened as she began to explain.

“I believe that there are different kinds of dirt, because each particle has been here at a different time, and came here from a different place.” Ashton nodded along.

“And I...I have my own ways of finding out. The right particles of soil we need for this potion would be--” Lanea stopped moving her hand. She lifted hers off of Ashton’s, placing her palm softly on a cold patch of soil.

“These ones. They have been here even longer than the ones around them.” Lanea murmured, calmly scooping up a small amount of soil into the cup. She stood slowly, holding onto Ashton’s shoulder for support, then watching him stand.

“When did you learn all this?” Ashton asked her as they made their way back into the house. Lanea answered his question as she walked over to the sink.

“I learned this when I was very young. My mom…” she sighed in thought before continuing.

“My mom taught me a lot about potion making and the passion she has for doing it. She says there’s always a bit of magic in everything, and as time passed, I believed what she said more and more.”

Lanea held the cup under her faucet, switching the water to filtered and then turning on the water. She let the water pour steadily for a second, then turned it off. Ashton held the cup for her as she retrieved a spoon, looking into it himself and seeing the two substances naturally begin to combine.

“It seems like you truly love what you’re doing.” Ashton said. Lanea nodded.

“People don’t realize it...but all around us, there’s so much magic. It’s just up to certain people that we recognize it all.” She said meaningfully. Ashton’s heart beat faster.

Lanea knew so many things and spoke so wisely...he truly felt a likeness towards the girl.

“We’re ba-ack,” Lanea sang as she walked into her room with Ashton. Michael was still at her desk, playing with the hem of his shirt. He looked up at them, acknowledging them with a soft smile.

“I poured the base in...did you guys successfully get the other ingredients?” he asked. Ashton and Lanea nodded, walking over to the cauldron and seeing the clear liquid swirling around. Lanea carefully poured in the soil and the water, then used her spoon to stir them together.

“We’re good so far...now all we need is the ingredient. But we’ll be okay,” Lanea reassured. The two boys watched as Lanea made sure the base, soil and water were properly mixed.

“There’s basically nothing else we could do here...how about we go somewhere for a drink or something?” Ashton suggested. Michael and Lanea agreed, and soon enough, they were all walking to a boba place nearby.

As Michael fell behind Ashton and Lanea as they walked, he noticed something new about them. They both seemed more content with one another, almost as if they were already a couple. Then again, Michael already felt like that with Luke even though he only knew him since last week.

Michael also noticed something about Lanea. He didn’t notice anything different visual-wise, but he always felt like his mood lifted around her. Michael thought about people who always talk about auras and fortune teller things, thinking he was going crazy.

To him, Lanea just seemed like she had the power to change someone’s mood just by standing next to them, or talking to them.

When they reached the boba place, a small shop called Tapioca World, Ashton held the door open for Michael and Lanea. The three apprentices lined up at the cashier and ordered their drinks, then sat down when they were given to them. Michael sipped his honey milk tea, chewing on a tapioca pearl.

Lanea, Ashton and Michael all agreed on the fact that they were really pulled into some big stuff. Sure, Michael’s action with spilling the love potion was on accident, but this was truly illegal.

“Isn’t giving someone an emotional potion without their consent illegal?” Ashton said, making sure his voice was low. Michael let out a long sigh.

“Yes, it really is. And I get it.”

“Because...I really don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Michael replied with a long slurp of his drink. Lanea sighed.

“You know what…” she said silently. Michael and Ashton looked at her.

“...I think this was a bad idea of going out to get drinks. All we’re gonna do is stress about this.”

The two boys nodded, and then they all agreed to leave.

Ashton decided to go back to Lanea’s house to hang out more, and Michael gladly waved goodbye as the two walked away from him outside. He called his older brother, and Calum picked him up.

When the two brothers arrived at home, Calum turned off the engine but didn’t go outside. Michael knew he was about to tell him something serious.

“How was everything at Lanea’s house?” Calum asked. Michael shrugged. Calum quickly cut to the chase, not able to hide anything anymore.

“On the night Luke came over for the first time...me and Syrah did it.” He blushed as he said the words. Michael, unsure of how to react, gave his brother a smile to show his congrats. The two brothers laughed through the awkwardness, grateful for each other.

“How...was...it?” Michael asked between laughs. Calum smirked, his laughter dying out as he explained his answer.

“Well...this is quite deep, but...that was the first time I had sex, and I feel like...me and Syrah truly have something different. She’s been with me all these years, since Year 9, and we’ve really learned a lot about each other. She’s the one I’m going to marry.” Calum said, his chest rising and falling as he thought about how in love he was. 

Michael could tell that his brother was very sure about what he was saying, and he had to admit, he was proud. He placed his hand on Calum’s shoulder, giving him brotherly love.

“Honestly...good for you. It must be really satisfying to know and have someone like Syrah,” Michael said, and Calum nodded.

“And I’m telling you this, because I’ve realized that you also have something different with Luke. He clearly felt the same way even before he was spelled. Can’t you see that he’s falling...” Calum paused to clear his throat. “...falling for you?”

Michael nodded, taking every word to heart.

“I can clearly see that he was already falling for me. It just hurts me to think about the fact that he’s surely going to be mad, when we de-spell him. He’ll think wrong of me and believe I did it on purpose.” Michael felt tears welling up in his eyes.

Calum realized how hurt he was, and reached across the middle console to hug his little brother. 

The siblings took the time to be with one another in that small car, which gave them a moment to think about how big the world was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave kudos and comment pleez :)

**Author's Note:**

> Mar 8, 2019: this story is on hiatus for the time being--i'm in need of some inspiration for how the story will continue, and what can i say? thats a challenge writers go through, so i'll be ok :''''')
> 
> this is the first multiple-chapter work i've done and so far i'm so excited how this'll turn out :))) please leave kudos and comments ;P


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